Winter Stirring
by stormwindrising
Summary: Skyborn has never been out of a three mile radius of her home. But when animus dragons attack it, she finds out the truth. Only three words, buts it's enough to make her realize that Pyrrhia isn't safe anymore. The words? Winter is stirring. (This story has almost no humor).
1. Prologue

Queen Peregrine stood over a large map of the Pyrrhia, sizing up everything. High Stone was way too the north for her taste. She had known for her whole reign; winter was coming soon. Queen Peregrine remembered the words her mother had said before she had killed her to become queen of the SkyWings.

" _I suppose I should thank you for taking the throne. "_ Those words had haunted her dreams for years and she had wondered what they meant. Queen Peregrine shuddered, then scolded herself. _How can you be scared of a season? Besides, you have to be strong for your tribe._ But I am, she thought. Winter was coming, and only the Ice Claws would survive without much damage.

 _Long summers, long winters,_ Queen Frost had said. Queen Peregrine, for once, didn't know what to do. She had led the Sky Claws through so many battles and hardships, only to tremble at the thought of winter.

Queen Peregrine walked outside of the room to a balcony, gazing over High Stone, the capital of the SkyWing Kingdom. Spreading her wings, the queen leaped into the air and folded her wings into a steep dive down away from her chambers, the highest tower in High Stone, reserved for the queen of the SkyWings.

At the last moment, the queen sharply pulled back her wings, slowing her descent. She then swerved right, under an archway. Queen Peregrine landed softly on the ground, claws clacking on the polished marble floor. SkyWing buildings were open to the air and had plenty of openings for dragons to swoop into.

The sun shone down on her back as she stepped forward regally into the room. A guard spotted her and bowed her head.

"My queen," she said. Queen Peregrine recognized her as Swift, one of her daughter's guards. "Shall I fetch Garnet?"

"Yes, please do so." Swift bounded through the marble hall. She returned shortly, with Garnet accompanying her.

"Yes, Mother?" Garnet gestured with her tail. "Let us go somewhere else to talk." Garnet led the queen to another room. Garnet arranged her wings to a more comfortable position and wrapped her tail neatly around her forelegs.

"Why do grace me with your presence now, Mother, after leaving me to my studies for so long?" Garnet asked an edge to her voice yet sounding bored at the same time.

Queen Peregrine ignored her question. "Your studies go well? Is Wind teaching you well enough?"

"Yes, yes," Garnet said, flicking her tail, obviously annoyed. "Why do you want to talk to me, Mother?"

"I want you to will lead an army to the Kingdom of Sand, to claim it. After all, you're twelve and old enough to lead an army."

"And why?" Garnet pressed.

Queen Peregrine narrowed her eyes.

"I don't tell dragonets things like that."

Garnet hissed, loudly. "Since I'm twelve and 'old enough to lead an army,' why can't you tell me why you want the Kingdom of Sand?"

The queen studied Garnet's eyes, not just looking, but truly trying to _see_ why she wanted to have that information. But the true reason for her to send Garnet? Her kingdom would be enveloped in snow when winter truly came. The kingdom had experienced winter before, but all that was just, in a way, winter playing around.

Inside her mind, though, the true reason was that her daughter would not be able to challenge her. If Garnet won the fight, she wouldn't be able to realize the danger. That could wipe all the SkyWing tribe off the face of Pyrrhia

Silence enveloped the room.

"Fine, then," Garnet snapped.

The queen stepped under an arch to enjoy the sun.

The land had been in summer for twenty years now. After twenty years of the sun and warmth, it was hard to imagine winter coming.

Yet she could feel it, no matter how much she wished to deny it. A cold presence was stirring.

Winter was fast approaching, and not even the IceWings would survive.

 **Author's note: Okay so in this world SkyWings are blue and their scales color depends on what time of the day they were born. There are also FlameWings, which are real SkyWing colors. Also animus dragons appear more frequently in ALL the tribes. i'm sorry if some of the fight scene are bad.**


	2. Chapter 1

"Up! Down!" Falcon's voice was sharp in the cold morning air as she gave commands to Skyborn. As Skyborn tucked in her large wings to roll under Falcon's belly to swipe at her.

Skyborn barely fit under Falcon's stomach her big wings sticking out. She was panting now, tired from her fighting exercise.

"All right, you can rest," Falcon said. Skyborn nodded and left the clearing, grateful for the break.

"Hey, Flappy," Falcon recognized Raven's voice, even though he was new. He dared to act like he'd had been at the academy longer than her?

"Yeah," Crow sneered. Crow was the one who'd started all of it, angling the bullying towards Skyborn. Raven just followed her lead.

"Need a wing trim?" Raven taunted.

Skyborn tucked in her wings in tightly, trying to make to look like regular wings. Skyborn hated her wings. SkyWings had large wings, but her wings were extra large. She had heard of the Elite, SkyWing army that was trained especially to fight in the air and hoped to join them one day.

 _She_ wouldn't be weird there. They would she how valuable she was.

"Shut up," Skyborn growled. "I can fly higher than both of you." Raven chose to ignore that.

"Pwoor, pwoor, Skyborn," Crow hissed, mimicking a baby voice. "Skyborn doesn't have parents to help her."

Skyborn wanted to snarl at them and challenge them to fight her, but Crow and Raven would tell Osprey, those cowards. "You don't have a mother either, do you, Crow?"

Crow roared. "She died fighting for her tribe! Yours died trying to get you here! They were scared of the war!" Still, Skyborn knew she hit a sore spot.

"You're not?" Skyborn said her voice cold. "Go on, join the army."

Suddenly Falcon sauntered over and Crow jumped. "We tell you to rest and you go around challenging each other? We might as well not have time to rest." Crow and Raven nodded their heads, backing away nervously.

"Really? I was under the impression that Skyborn was challenging Crow and Raven." Osprey had appeared out of nowhere, like the oversized bat he was. Skyborn knew Osprey hated her. Osprey was on their side. They both smirked.

"Crow and Raven challenged Skyborn," Falcon hissed angrily.

"If you insist, _Falcon._ Crow, Raven, go back to training."

Falcon stared at Osprey, and Skyborn thought she looked almost….afraid. Skyborn blinked and that look was gone. Her instructor was never afraid of anything. Storms, no. War, no. Lightning, no.

 _Crow and Raven are cowards. They're just scared of Falcon because she can punish them._

Falcon gave a faint growl of annoyance after Crow and Raven had disappeared. "Come on," she said, waving her tail. "We're doing flight battle today."

Skyborn's heart leaped. Right on the spot she extended her wings and flapped, hard. She was immediately shot into the air, faster than anyone would be able to blink.

The wind whistled in her face as she dodged wisps of cloud. Skyborn glanced down. Falcon was far below, catching up. Falcon flew faster than others. _Swoop,_ Skyborn told herself. Folding her wings inward, she hurtled towards Falcon at a neck-breaking speed.

Her instructor saw her coming she swerved to one side, trying to get higher than her. Skyborn was forced to stop by spreading her wings out. She and Falcon circle each other for minutes. Skyborn knew that she could fly faster, but Falcon had more experience.

 _Well, she's never had a student like me,_ Skyborn thought. Instinctively, she propelled herself upward, giving herself an advantage. As Falcon spiraled up much slower, Skyborn aimed a stream of fire toward her.

Falcon turned and lunged towards Skyborn. "Try harder." Skyborn blinked, processing the information, but she was late to react by seconds. Together, she and Falcon grappled in the air.

Skyborn fastened her teeth around Falcon's neck, but Falcon kicked her hard. She beckoned Skyborn with a wave of her tail, shooting towards the earth.

Already over? Skyborn always had to return to the earth, a world she was unfamiliar with, but already?

Skyborn spiraled down quickly, landing in a matter of a few seconds. Even if she didn't show it, Falcon was excited.

"That was very good," Falcon praised. "But don't get distracted like that." She then waved her tail to dismiss her, as was customary for lunch, which meant hunting. Usually, she enjoyed hunting, but Falcon didn't feel like it. The adrenaline had already filled her.

As Skyborn left, she glimpsed Crow and Raven, but she veered away quickly from them, not seeking for a dispute.

She walked towards her cave, which was very close by. It was warm and welcoming, and as she entered the tunnel, a gust of warm air hit her. Entering her own room, she lay down on the moss nest and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

一一一

Skyborn lay there for hours, but she felt cold and wet that could only mean something: rain. Thankfully, as her cave was solid rock she could not hear the walked to the tunnel and poked her head out the tunnel and groaned. The rain was pouring down heavily, and it looked like there might be a thunderstorm. She took a wad of moss and wiped her snout dry.

 _What do I do for the rest of the day?_ Skyborn stared into the rain.

She saw a shrouded figure was forcing itself through the rain, and as the figure came closer Skyborn recognized Falcon. The Sky Claw was drenched when she entered the cave and dripped water all over the ground.

Skyborn tried to avoid the puddles, hopping from claw to claw.

Skyborn blinked. "So… what are you doing here?"

Falcon rolled her eyes, "Think a little rain would cancel training? If you want to join the Elite, you need a new attitude about training. Also, you're going to get very wet, so there's no use trying to keep dry."

Skyborn tried to cover her surprise. _How come_ Crow _and_ Raven _don't have to do it?_ "Yeah, of course, I knew that we would be training. I just didn't want to be muddy." Falcon snorted, skeptic.

Skyborn could tell she didn't fool anyone. "Come on." Falcon lead her into the rain. Skyborn shivered as thunder crackled overhead and the lightning danced across the sky, flashing.

"So, are we supposed to be flying low or something?" Flying low was no fun.

"No," Falcon's tail flicked back and forth in annoyance and impatience. "You need to learn that lightning is your ally."

"Ah." Another thought came to mind. "And what if I get killed like that?"

Falcon stared at her, unblinking. Her voice was cold and emotionless. "If you're not fast enough to survive, you're not fast enough to join the Elite."


	3. Chapter 2

Dear Constellation,

Thank you for the carvings. They're absolutely beautiful! I like how the dragons look like they're going to fly. Did you use onyx or obsidian for the black one? and marble for the white one? Please write back soon. I miss you. I hope I can see you at High Stone soon with your sisters. Daybreak says hello!

Regards, Nebula

Nebula looked at the letter, satisfied. She rolled the scroll up and left it on her desk so she could send it later. She put it beside the carvings of the two dragons. Nebula picked up the black dragon, stroking the smooth, cold surface.

The dragon was poised with wings spread out and tail lashing in the air. Constellation was so good at carving and drawing. The only thing Nebula was good at? Debating, or rather, manipulating others. Nebula stroked the drawing Constellation had sent to her a month ago.

She stood up and left the airy room, heading towards Daybreak's room. Right now, she needed some of his "positivity". Nebula suddenly shivered as a cold draft blew through the arch open the side of the wall.

Nebula frowned. This year seemed colder than all the others. A guard nodded to her as she passed.

Yet another guard stood at Daybreak's room. Why were there so many guards? The guard nodded to Nebula and stepped aside. Nebula entered Daybreak's room, ready for the color to blind her. Paintings of sunsets and the night sky were hung in the room. Daybreak was always Constellation's favorite cousin.

"Daybreak?" Nebula called gingerly. If he was making his "poetry"... Nebula shuddered. Daybreak's poetry could kill.

"What!? I know Mother, I'm going to battle training!"

"Daybreak, do you not recognize my voice?!" Nebula roared. "You've known for five years!"

"Ok, ok, sorry." Daybreak's head popped out between an arch. He grinned. I'm going to have to report you from being abusing me, you know."

"Daybreak, do not wear down my patience before the day is over, or else about a million of your poems will be burned."

"Gee, I'm so scared," he said, with mock fright. "If my memory serves, I have about every poem memorized."

"Hey, I just thought of a riddle! You want to hear it?"

Nebula growled. "No, I do not. In fact, you should go to battle training." Dragging Daybreak by the wing, she pulled him to an arch and poked him. "Let's go."

Daybreak turned serious. "If that's what you want." He burst out laughing. "According to you, my poetry can kill, so I don't need training _or_ practice." He took a look at Nebula's face and backed away. "Okay, sorry."

Daybreak was actually quite good at fighting, as long as you could get him to do it. Nebula poked him again. "Hurry up."

Daybreak sighed. "Fine." He then swooped through the arch down to the courtyard. All the dragons turned to look at Daybreak as he descended to the stone-paved ground. The SkyWings all cleared out as soon as Daybreak landed, bowing.

Daybreak was of direct descent of the ThunderWings, meaning he was directly Highborn whereas Nebula's blood was distantly Highborn. As always, no one paid attention to her. Queen Peregrine tolerated her, like a friend's pet that you didn't like, but she only kept her in High Stone for the sake of honor.

The dragons left the area, but they all stayed to watch. Daybreak anxiously glanced around, looking at the faces watching. "Umm.."

"Daybreak-" Suddenly Daybreak leaped at her and buried his fangs in her neck and pinned her to the ground with a muffled thud. Nebula felt for the soft flesh of his stomach and kicked it hard. Daybreak flinched but didn't relinquish his hold on her. _Please don't let him win._ Nebula knew it was selfish of her to wish that, but if she lost, all would scorn her. If Nebula won, they would go on worshipping Daybreak.

Nebula felt her vision blur for moments, but then it cleared. For a second, Daybreak faltered, and Nebula took the chance to throw him off and grappled with him, throwing him to the ground. Then, it was over.

She had won, but why did she feel so faint? How come Daybreak faltered?


End file.
